01/22/2026
Jesus is like a fountain, or a spring, out of which forgiveness flows. He is not like a spigot from which life is turned off and on when we need to wash the scent of death from ourselves or draw a drink. Do we only approach Him when we think we need cleansing or to receive refreshment for our spirit, and faith? Or is He the source of life that we have built our lives and families around… the well, spring, and fountain that our existence depends upon as we quinch our spiritual thirst, and for every cool compress that relieves the fever of our sin?
“"On that day there shall be a fountain opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness.”
Zechariah 13:1 ESV
My grandfather had a farm, and on this farm there was a spring. This spring which bubbled up out of the ground on his farm was continuous, that is it never ran dry, and flowing from it was a small creek that ran down the valley between two ridges and joined with other such flowing brooks until a larger stream was formed, and eventually they joined to form a river that flowed into the sea.
Jesus is a spring that bubbles forth in our lives. He changes the dry parched land that surrounds Him into a lush green and fragrant paradise. He washes the ground over which He flows until it glistens beneath His clear waters and the dirt that once covered it is carried away... leaving behind stones and rocks of all colors which have been smoothed perfectly by His coursing. He runs across them and around them as He smooths their rough edges, and in good time, enables them to accommodate His passing without resistance.
Jesus changes our lives when He rises-up within us, and His water is a continuous flow of mercy, grace, and life that doesn’t depend on the ebbs and flows of other sources to maintain Himself; He shapes the world around Him as He flows from the ground and washes its dirt away. He is always with us and isn’t like the water from a wet weather spring that comes and goes with the rains.
“Jesus said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."”
John 4:13-14 ESV
Jesus not only provides for us as a worldly spring does, but He opens up everlasting new springs from within those of us who believe, thus transforming us into His image. He calls us to drink His living water and beckons us all to become as He is… refreshment for the world.
“On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.”
John 7:37 ESV
So, there was a natural spring on my grandfather’s farm, and then there were living springs that gushed from within my grandparents. The farm flourished from the water which bubbled from the ground beneath it, but generations rose up from the living water seeded into every child that drank the living water that flowed from those who tilled it.
Don’t be fooled by wet weather springs that might rise-up in your life; they appear to be useful, but only bubble forth while the rains are upon the earth and then dry up to nothing when the seasonal showers end; leaving the ground parched once again. Drink the never-ending waters of Christ, let them cleanse you, smooth the stones of your character, and wash the dirt from around them. Let this fountain of living water not only refresh you but bring new life flowing from within you for others to drink. These streams of faith are eternal, and flow continuously into eternity as they follow the valleys of our lives.
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them.”
Hebrews 13:8-9 ESV
So, listen to Jesus as He invites you to drink and to refresh yourself, your life, by tasting the eternal water of life He offers. Accept His cup that carries within it forgiveness for your sin. Allow Him to smooth your character, refresh your faith, and connect you to the one true God who is the ocean of eternity.
“And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”
John 17:3 ESV
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for the fountain of Jesus Christ, and the living water He provides this parched world. I thank you for providing through Him a spring that gushes forth without end, and whose promise lives now and forevermore. I thank you for my grandparents who accepted a drink of the living water of Christ and became springs to me and to all those who came to know them. Help me Lord so that the water of Jesus that now flows from me too will call out to my children... “Come Drink!” Let the smooth stones of my character bear witness to His flow in my life and make their walks of faith easier. Holy Father, let the water that glistens about them be cool to their feet, and quench their thirst as they walk this way of grace... the way of faith in your Son Jesus Christ.
For this I praise you Father, and for your Son Jesus I thank you... He is our redeemer, our savior, and from His side flows the cool water of your grace and mercy... now and forever more.
“Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.”
1 John 5:10-12 ESV
Amen.
Rich Forbes